The high street got a permanent business rates cut in April. Understanding who is funding it explains a lot about your bills this year. I have a friend who runs a small café and cried, actual tears, over a business rates bill. Not because the number was unpayable, though it nearly was, but because she […]
A Tax Cut Always Comes From Somewhere Read More »
Petrol is falling, jet fuel is still tight, and the Strait of Hormuz keeps changing its mind. This is how I plan a summer around a market that refuses to sit still. News · Energy · Travel Let me guess how this went in your house. Somebody said we should book something. Somebody else said,
Cheap Fuel, Nervous Airlines and Your Holiday Read More »
England’s bus fare cap drops to £2 in January. Here is what a small repeating saving is really worth, and the habit that decides whether you ever see it. News · UK Policy · Everyday Money A pound does not sound like anything. That is exactly why it works, and exactly why it disappears. From
Two Pounds a Journey, and What You Do With It Read More »
UK inflation fell to 2.6% in June. The number that matters next is not your shopping bill; it is what the Bank of England decides to do about rates. News · Macro · Cost of Living The number lands at seven in the morning, the way it always does, and by the time the kettle
Inflation Fell. Now Watch What Your Savings Do. Read More »
Britain is putting rules around crypto for the first time. Here are the dates that matter, and what the new FCA regime changes for you as a holder. Crypto · UK · Regulation Who do you call when it goes wrong? Let me start with an uncomfortable question. If the platform holding your crypto vanished
New Crypto Rules Are Coming to Britain Read More »
There’s a belief so common I’d call it financial folklore: when the world looks dangerous, gold goes up. Conflict breaks out, and gold rises, because gold is safety and fear sends people running toward it. I believed this myself for years. This week, the market quietly proved it’s more complicated than that — and I
Why Gold Fell During a Middle East War Read More »
A country doesn’t often change its leader without an election. Britain just did. Andy Burnham was confirmed as Labour leader today and will walk into 10 Downing Street on Monday, taking over from Keir Starmer. I want to walk you through why this matters to you even if you’ve never set foot in Westminster, because
Britain Changed Prime Ministers Mid-Term — Here’s What It Means for Your Money Read More »
Finance · UK Economy · The Bigger Picture Everyone has an opinion on the economy. Fewer people have actually looked at what growth means for their own money. I get asked one question more than almost any other, usually at a dinner table, usually somewhere between the main course and the pudding. Is the economy
The Growth Question Read More »
Here’s something that ought to feel stranger than it does. There is a war on a real one, with airstrikes, a naval blockade, and tankers ablaze in one of the busiest shipping lanes on earth and yet this week the US stock market spent its time wandering up to record highs, apparently unbothered. If that
The War You’re Not Fighting And Why It’s Already at Your Petrol Pump Read More »
Swift, the fifty-year-old plumbing behind global banking, has switched on a blockchain — and it may matter more than any coin launched this year. July 2026 · Money & Payments Markets & Policy You have almost certainly never heard of SWIFT, and you have almost certainly used it. Every time money has crossed a border
The Boring Giant Just Learned a New Trick Read More »
